


Stronger We Grow

by doomeric, meerida



Series: an army of stags and roses [2]
Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Dorne is scary and I love it, F/M, Family Dynamics, Gen, House Baratheon, House Tyrell, King Stannis, Original Character(s), Original Child Character(s) - Freeform, Queen Mina - Freeform, Robb Stark is a Gift, the author wants to protect sweetrobin, this is a mess but i love it
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-01
Updated: 2018-02-07
Packaged: 2019-03-11 16:40:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,787
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13528332
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/doomeric/pseuds/doomeric, https://archiveofourown.org/users/meerida/pseuds/meerida
Summary: “We hold none of these titles without you, King Stannis.” Mina wonders what Stannis will look like with his crown, once it is finished. He had designed it so it was like the crowns the Durrandon kings wore, with dark gold and black and bronze.A continuation of my au fic, Unsteady Beginnings where, upon hearing of his brother's death and Joffrey's new title of king, Stannis declares war on the Lannisters to avenge his brother and rightful place on the throne. Except, now he has the Reach on his side and therefore a better chance at defeating his enemies.ON HIATUS





	1. declaration of war

**Author's Note:**

> As said in the description, this is the second fic in a series where at the end of Robert's Rebellion Stannis is married to Mina Tyrell and because of it his luck changes. Writing this fic doesn't mean I don't like Selyse or anything, by the way (I think the fault in her and Stannis' marriages lies more with him actually...), I suppose she married Paxter Redwyne and has a few happy children?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stannis declares war on the crown and meets with Robb Stark and Mina has to see her family again...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> EDIT: I have split the chapters in half, if only so it's easier to write and faster to get out. Sorry if this confused anyone!

They are dining in Storm's End's dining hall when a messenger interrupts their meal. Mina watches Stannis opens the letter the boy was carrying. He couldn't have been older than Marith, their eldest child. The heir in question too looks to his father's face and is the one to ask what is wrong.

  
Stannis glances at him, then around the table for his eyes to eventually land on Mina. She has always liked her husband's bluntness, how he is straight to the point and never minces his words - it was so different from Highgarden, and court - but now she wishes he could just...not to be so forward.

  
“Lord Eddard has been executed on Joffrey’s orders for claiming he is born of incest,” the Lord of the Stormlands says, staring at the letter again.

  
“Joff did that?” Desmera, their second girl asks, seemingly in disbelief. None of their children particularly liked Joffrey but he was still their cousin, well perhaps not if what Stannis believes is true. Mina thinks it may be - why else would Jon Arryn and Eddard Stark be murdered by the Lannisters?

  
Desmera’s older sister is more cautious. “Why would he do that?” Shireen asks slowly. Joffrey had been cruel to her, made japes of the greyscale marring her face, but Shireen was good friends with Myrcella, no doubt Shireen knew that she wouldn't be playing with her cousin anytime soon.

  
Stannis looks to the girls, just ten and nine respectively. They are too young for war, children are not made for this, Mina thinks, remembering the war between two king's now dead, Aerys and Robert. Was it worth it, she wonders, the whole war, the Targaryen children murdered, the others exiled, thousands and thousands killed on both sides, and Robert was not even king for twenty years.

  
“Is he a mad king, like the last?” Lynon asks seriously. He was but six and no doubt thought it was like the stories of the rebellion he had heard.

  
“No,” Mina tells him firmly, even though she wonders of Joffrey's sanity… “It's just, children shouldn't rule, shouldn't be given such power so young.”

  
The children are quiet for a long moment. Then Oryn quietly asks what they all are thinking, even Mina; “Will there be a war?”

  
At the head of the table, Stannis looks at their second son, who was as reserved as him and just as thoughtful. “Perhaps...we shall see soon enough though.”

 

* * *

 

“You are declaring war on the crown?” Mina asks Stannis, not wanting to believe it. War, war, war. She has had enough of it. They are in a meeting with his bannermen and trusted counselors, few though there might be. At first the men raised their brows at Mina being there but Stannis just told them she was their lady, and that was that.

  
Marith was here too, despite Mina’s protests. Her son was only just five-and-ten and though he was good enough at war tactics and fighting he was still a boy.

  
“I must,” Stannis tells her, and was that sadness in his voice? “I am Robert's true heir.”

  
“The Lannisters have a big army though, my lord,” Ser Donnel Swann says, perhaps nervously.

  
“Then I shall need a bigger one,” Stannis answers matter of factly. “Davos, who is on our side.”

  
The Onion Knight was the closest thing Stannis had to a friend and sat at his lord's side always. _The only reason they are friends is because Davos saved Stannis from my family_ , Mina thinks, then she sighs before shaking the thought away.

  
“The Stormlands, obviously. The Reach too, most likely?” It is a question, Mina sees and she nods.

  
“Yes, certainly. The Tyrells alone have one of the largest armies in Westeros and are bannermen are no less powerful,” she answers proudly. “My good sister Alerie is the daughter of Leyton Hightower, who has an army second only to the Tyrells, in the Reach anyway.”

  
Stannis nods. “What of elsewhere?” When nobody answers he looks to Marith, who sits beside Mina. “What say you, son, what are the best ways to make alliances?”

  
Marith hadn’t been asked a question yet and looks surprised. Seeing the lords look over to him though, he sits up straighter. “Well, there is fostering one anothers children, or giving each other’s kingdoms food or materials...and marriage alliances?”

  
“Correct,” Stannis tells their son, causing Marith to smile proudly. “Now, I need to know our numbers.”

  
It goes on as such for some time, the men speaking of war matters, occasionally asking Mina about the Reach, Marith answers Stannis’ and eventually the lord’s questions. The lords leave to the chambers they shall have during their stay in the castle and Ser Davos wishes them a goodnight. Marith is just leaving when Stannis calls him back.

  
“Yes, father?” Marith asks, pulling a black curl from his face. He doesn’t look much like Stannis, he has his dark, dark hair and the same blue eyes but his hair is all curls, like Mina, and he has her height as well, or lack of it. No doubt Oryn shall pass him in height soon enough, perhaps even Lynon too. Marith looked much like a Tyrell, with his big eyes - nevermind their colour - and might well grow to be more beautiful than handsome, much like his cousin Loras.

  
“You did well, Marith. I always have said you shall be a good Lord of Storm’s End and the kingdom that comes with it. Now you are the true heir to the Iron Throne and must act as such.” Stannis awkwardly puts a hand on their son’s shoulder and nods, as though he is proud.

  
“Thank you, fath- _your grace_ ,” Marith says, standing tall as he can. “I shall be your most loyal servant until my last breath and your own.”

  
“And then you shall rule the realm, as is your right,” Stannis adds, then sends Marith to his bedchambers.

  
There is a silence between them, the last two in the council room. Mina imagines Argalic and Argella Durrandon planned battles and wars in this very room, and not so long after Orys Baratheon helped organise attacks on Dorne here. How many people had planned wars as they stand where Mina stands, or sit where Stannis just sat. There is an old wives tale that many smallfolk of the Stormlands believe, that just before they went to war with Aegon the Dragon the then King and Princess, Argalic and Argella put a curse on Orys Baratheon and his line, that anyone born of with his blood would never truly be happy.  

  
Mina doesn’t believe it, or perhaps she doesn’t wish to. Though, she has known but four Baratheons save her own children that had Orys’ blood and none had perfect, or even particularly pleasant lives. Steffon Baratheon, who Mina saw only once when she was a mere child, had drowned within sight of his own home; Robert lost his love and was stuck at court, a king in name only, a fool in all things; Stannis had never been a happy man, and always had had a dislike for all things in this world; Renly at first glance seemed joyful as can be but Mina knew he wished for more and was irritated that he couldn’t remember his family.   

  
“You have put much pressure on Marith,” Mina says , almost casually, as Stannis returns to his seat, looking tired.

  
“He must learn to deal with it, he shall one day rule all of Westeros, from the Wall to the southron most point of Dorne.”

  
“Prince Marith, it sounds quite Reachen, does it not?” Mina wonders aloud, sitting beside her husband.

  
“Perhaps, but King Marith Baratheon the First of His Name, that is good enough for me,” Stannis says. “Princes Marith, Oryn and Lynon and Princesses Shireen and Desmera. Queen Mina.”

  
That makes her feel...odd. She’d heard of her mother’s wishes to wed Janna to Prince Rhaegar and Mina is certain Janna had been half in love with Rhaegar, despite the distrust she already bore their mother, and once had danced with him at some ball held at Highgarden. Then he wed the Dornish princess, Elia Martell, and mother had went on about her hatred of ‘those scheming Dornish snakes’, as though it was Elia’s fault.

  
The few times they had met, Elia had been kind to Mina and had even taken Janna as one of her ladies for a short while, before Janna wed her Jon, and Janna always spoke kindly of the princess and her children.

  
Even more recently, when rumours slowly but surely spread of the uncertain parentage of Cersei’s children, Mina’s mother and Mace had schemed with Renly until dawn, mostly of ‘getting rid’ of Cersei and her children and marrying Margaery to Robert, making her a queen. Now, Mina was queen. Her mother might even take notice of her for the first time in years.

  
“We hold none of these titles without you, King Stannis.” Mina wonders what Stannis will look like with his crown, once it is finished. He had designed it so it was like the crowns the Durrandon kings wore, with dark gold and black and bronze.

  
“I was never meant to be king, nor was Robert. I was destined for a small holdfast, perhaps a second daughter as a wife while my elder brother kept Storm’s End. Then he became king. Now it is my turn.”

  
Mina smiles at him comfortingly. “You always have done your duty better than Robert, and you shall be the better king.”

  
“Yes, I shall be,” Stannis says, looking every inch a king. Mina can see him on the Iron Throne, hard and fierce as the steel that forged it.

 

* * *

 

The camp is large and full of men practising by the time Mina and Stannis get there, Marith, Ser Davos and Renly in tow. Mina can spot which tent is Mace’s easily enough, it is the largest and fanciest, and where many battles shall be planned. She gets off her horse and is met by her nephew Garlan, who is taller than her and looks so much older than the last time she saw him. “Aunt Mina, I am happy to see you.”

  
“And I you, Garlan. Now, King Stannis must speak with Mace and his lords, as you are no doubt aware,” Mina says after she pulls away from the hug her nephew brought her into.

  
Garlan nods to Stannis. “It is good to finally meet our new king. My father is in there, your grace,” Garlan tells Stannis, who nods and walks begins to walk into the tent. “Are you coming in, Aunt?”

  
“I shall be a part of many war councils, I do not doubt, but I have a sister I must catch up with.”

  
Her nephew nods, heading back in, Marith walking at his side. Mina pulls her cloak tighter around herself despite there being no cold and finds it odd breathing this calm, still air. The air at Storm’s End was warm but with the sea being so close and wind so tough the air was fresh and sharp but Mina had gotten used to it.

  
She walks past all of the tents, the training yards, the river where women giggle and chat and don’t truly wash at all, all the while being called ‘your grace,’ or ‘my queen.’ She does not doubt it’ll take some getting used to, being a queen.

  
Mina sees Shireen and Desmera with Devan Seaworth and Edric Storm, Stannis’ ward and baseborn nephew. For a moment she wonders of Oryn and Lynon, before remembering they were with Renly at the training yards. “Girls, I am going to see your Aunt Janna, shall you be accompanying me?” Her girls nodded, saying their farewells to their friend and cousin.

  
It doesn’t take them long to find Janna. She is sitting outside, speaking with Alerie and young Margaery and mother, and other ladies Mina doesn’t know. It is Alerie who first sees her. “Mina, how glad I am to see you!”

  
“Alerie,” Mina greets as the elder woman embraces her, smelling of sweet milk and the sea - just as Mina remembers. “How do you fare?”

  
“I am well, very well,” her goodsister says as her true sister comes over to her.

  
Janna hugs her so quickly Mina barely sees her face. When they pull away though she can see her sister’s face is as beautiful as ever, but her eyes aren’t so bright and her smile it seems forced. _I thought we hid nothing from each other,_ she thinks. _I was the only one Janna never had to pretend to be happy with._

  
Young Margaery curtsies, a true lady, and smiles oh so prettily. “Queen Mina, I am so pleased to finally see you again. Your crown is wonderful, if I may say.” _Mother did well with her,_ Mina thinks, _better than ever she did Janna or I._

  
“You may,” Mina says, squeezing Margaery’s dainty hand in a motherly fashion. She thinks of the crown on her head, a dark gold with bronze with hints of yellow.

  
Margaery smiles up at her and looks behind her, her grin only growing. “Cousins! I have not yet met you - I met Marith, was it five years past, aunt?”

  
“It must have been,” Mina agrees, before stepping back so her girls might see their cousin for, gods, was it truly the first time, at least since they were babes? Margaery smiles to Desmera, asking of her dress, and she only barely shows her shock upon seeing the grey covering some of Shireen’s face. The girl has been trained well though and simply smiles, telling Shireen she has eyes the colour of a peaceful sea during summer.

  
Then, Mina’s mother comes out of her furnished tent, asking what is going on. It is Shireen she sees first and Mina then understands Janna’s fury at their mother, the utter hatred her older sister feels for Olenna Redwyne. She hobbles out on her stick, so small she is of a height with Shireen (not for long, Shireen has the father’s height and will perhaps match Lynon one day, even Oryn, but certainly Marith) and her mother looks at Shireen’s face in, gods, was that _disgust_? Or distaste, her nose turned upwards - as though Shireen was an ill smelling boot.

  
“Well, dear, you aren’t a beauty like your mother, that much is for sure,” her mother says and Mina cannot think clearly. She sees Janna begin to speak - or, shout - as she glares, Alerie looking shocked, Margaery doesn’t seem sure what to do but she too goes to say something. Mina is about to scream when Desmera - who never could keep things to herself, always wished for the world to know her thoughts and feelings - steps forwards, taking one of Shireen’s shaky hands in her own.

  
“You,” Desmera, barely nine she is, says to Olenna with a pointed finger, “best take that back or you shall see the fury of the stag, you old witch.”

  
Mina’s mother just laughs. “You have fire, don’t you? I meant no offence, I just thought you would look more like your mother,” she adds to Shireen, who just nods, eyes wet.

  
“I think we best leave for our tents,” Mina announces after an awkward silence. “My girls are hungry and tired. Goodnight Janna, Alerie, Margaery. Mother.”


	2. a northern king

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was originally part of chapter one, sorry for any confusion!

Shireen and Desmera are sharing a tent with some of their ladies - they had playmates at Storm’s End, as Lord Baratheon’s daughters, but now they were princesses and should be attended to as such - such as Allyria Dayne, betrothed to Beric Dondarrion, Lord of the Marches, though she was closer to the girls’ ages than Mina. Of girls born in the Stormlands, Jessa Swann was to be a lady-in-waiting alongside Leyla Penrose, Orena Wylde, Betha Caron and Arsella Selmy.

  
Most likely there would be other girls from nobles houses in other kingdoms but now, they were the ladies that would serve Shireen and Desmera, three to each girl. It reminded Mina of herself, how Olenne and Victaria had been her ladies when she first went to the Stormlands. Now both were wed to Reachenmen and Mina’s ladies were from the Stormlands.

  
Right now though, it was just Shireen and Desmera. The elder’s tears had gone but she was still upset about it, understandably. “Shireen...I am sorry my mother said that awful, cruel, wrong thing.”

  
“I blame not you, mother,” Shireen tells her, with a smile that could melt the Wall. Mother, you know not a single thing of my girl.

  
“I know what Aunt Janna speaks of when she moans about your mother,” Desmera says, in a successful attempt to make Shireen feel better.”

 

Mina tells them both to get into their beds - makeshift beds, really, but they would do for a moon, which was the longest Mina hoped they would be here - after they brushed their hair and she waits until they are under their blankets before she leaves, after kissing them goodnight. “I shall come in the morning, my dears. Let us pray your ladies finally have gotten here by then. Peaceful dreams, girls.”

 

* * *

 

  
After making sure there are trusted men at her daughter’s tents - this is wartime, after all - Mina goes to her own tent. Like in Storm’s End, she and Stannis have separate rooms but as they have grown...closer they might well share after all. Mina worries not after her love life or her mother but instead changes into her nightclothes, puts on a robe, and reads some letters Maester Cressen had written her, updating her on how things are at Storm’s End.

  
Cressen’s age had been catching up on him in recent years but he was a good man, just and kind and loyal, one of the few in this world Stannis trusts, perhaps even loves. The Maester practically raised Stannis and his brothers after their parents unfortunate deaths and always had a soft spot for Stannis, and their children, who saw him as a pseudo-grandsire of sorts (they didn’t have any others, poor things).

  
Despite the love and trust she bore Cressen, Mina knew she and Stannis would soon need to send someone to look after the castle, perhaps Stannis’ uncle, Harbert, who was a good enough man, even if he wasn’t overly warm and affectionate. Mayhaps Renly could be sent, though no doubt he would want to help fight - whether that was more for true brotherly love or dreams of glory, Mina needn’t know.

  
But thinking about such matters - like family - were tiring, so Mina lays down her head and soon enough she is asleep.

 

* * *

 

  
“We must allie ourselves with Robb Stark,” Davos tells Stannis. They are in Stannis’ tent at another war council. Mina has almost gotten used to them. Though this one has not the lords of Stannis’ kingdoms but just his close advisors, and family. “He shall help you defeat the Lannisters, if only to avenge his father.”

  
“Eddard Stark and I had no love for each other. Robert and he were close as brothers but...not us,” Stannis says sternly, bringing up the old hurt feelings. “Besides, Robb Stark is an enemy of mine - he calls himself king, threatening my reign and crown.”

  
Renly laughs at that. “He is a child, a boy of ten-and-four. His men have named him King in the North, not King of Westeros. Siding with him would be best, brother mine.”

  
“Renly speaks the truth,” Mina tells her husband, who still looks hurt, clearly he is thinking of his older brother and the pain he caused Stannis. “Not only does Robb Stark have the North on his side but the Riverlands also, and his cousin is Lord of the Vale, Warden of the East. And he is unwed and so far as we’re aware, unbetrothed too.”

  
“You mean to wed a daughter of ours to Robb Stark?” Stannis asks, staring at her.

  
Mina smiles, too much like her mother. “Not just to Robb Stark, Robert Arryn too is not yet promised. Desmera to Robb, Shireen to Robert. Or one of them to Theon Greyjoy, Balon’s son and heir, he’ll have ships enough for all of us and he has ties to the Starks.”

  
“You would sell a daughter of ours to Balon Greyjoy?” Stannis asks, looking like an upcoming storm.

  
After some years of marriage Mina knows well enough how to deal with these storms. “Not to Balon, his son. His son who was raised by Eddard Stark. I know you loved Stark little but none can deny the man was honourable and noble, too much so for his own good even.”

  
“I shan't have my daughter's be sold and bought like some meat at a market," Stannis tells her. Mina knows that beneath his temper and stern looks Stannis cares deeply for his family but still, sometimes it surprises her.

  
She takes a deep breath. “We needn't decide right now, and besides it was only a suggestion.” Stannis simply nods, turning away.

 

* * *

 

  
They meet the infamous Robb Stark soon enough. The Young Wolf has hair as red as his mother's and the eyes of the Tullys too but Mina can see the Stark in him, Ned Stark specifically.

  
There is a crown on his head and the shadow of a beard but he is still a boy. Too young for war, Mina thinks, but aren't they all? Theon Greyjoy is beside him, a handsome lad with a smile the tells you he knows more than ever you could. As smug as any of his blood then, Mina cannot help but note. Now, she can't imagine Shireen or Desmera wedding this boy, this man.

  
The apparent King in the North hasn't only got the Greyjoy heir but lords of the Riverlands and North aplenty.

  
Before their official meeting with them, Stannis meets with Davos and Mina. It is Davos who begins. “Do you believe there is a chance you could beat the Stark boy's army?”

  
Stannis nods, though not too confidently. “Perhaps, if we can secure the Vale, it's army is one of Westeros' largest.”

  
Shaking her head, Mina says, “You must not forget that Robb Stark's young cousin is Robert Arryn, Lord of the Vale and Warden of the East. Mayhaps if we secured an alliance with both Stark and Arryn...” Mina hints at her thoughts on betrothing her girls to each boy.

  
“I will tell you for the last time, Mina, my children shall not be sold like mules,” he says it sternly, almost angrily, and Mina is remembered of the man she once thought he was, the one nearly all think he is - cold, distant, cruel.

  
She hopes she doesn't visibly flinch. Then, she remembers Davos is there. The knight stands, looking awkward and uncomfortable. “Stannis, what Lady Mina suggests may well -”

  
“I know my lady wife quite well, Davos. I know the Tyrells too, they think of their own ends, always.” I am not a Tyrell, Mina thinks when she sees the look he gives her. I am a Baratheon, you cloaked me yourself and were the first to call me the Lady of Storm's End and later your queen. “No doubt her mother and brother teach her these things - schemes that help themselves.”

  
He is speaking of the siege, Mina realises, with shock and perhaps a little horror. That was the cloud that had hung over them for so long and Stannis rarely, if ever mentioned it, let alone took out his pain and anger on her.

  
“I had no part in the siege, you said as much on our wedding night," Mina says, willing her voice not to shake. Growing Strong, she tells herself out of habit - that's all she heard as a girl. Ours is the fury, she thinks too because Stannis was wrong. She had worked hard and deserved to be a Baratheon queen, as much as Stannis did to be a king.

  
A guard enters then, announcing that Robb Stark is ready to meet with them. Stannis throws a look at her, one she cannot read, and Davos gives her a kinder one, of pity. You needn't pity me, Onion Knight. I am a queen and you a smuggler. No, she thinks, I am kinder than this, more Janna than Olenna.

 

* * *

 

  
The meaning with Robb Stark goes as expected, for the most part. He speaks of an alliance with Stannis to take the Lannisters from their power, to avenge his father and save his sisters.

  
“If we take the throne from Cersei and her bastards you will bend the knee to me, won't you?” Stannis asks - or tells, really - the Stark boy.

  
“My men named me their king and it is my duty to protect them and ensure their safety and health, that they are ready for winter and such. The Starks have ruled the North for some eight millenia as kings and afterwards for near three hundred years we were kings in all but name. Until now.”

He believes in himself, that much is for certain. Before Stannis can speak the boy starts again.

  
“My ancestor King Torrhen bent his knee to Aegon to save his people, his kingdom. You might not have studied my houses history so well but did you know how many Starks died during the Blackfyre Rebellions, or the Conquest of Dorne? And not so long ago a Targaryen brutally murdered my grandsire and uncle who were trying to save my aunt who was taken by a Targaryen prince. Then my father was executed by a southroner for believing in the truth. The South and it's kings have done naught good for my family or my kingdom, Stannis.”

  
Mina is impressed. “The North remembers,” she says, remembering the famous saying.

  
“It does,” Robb Stark agrees, too serious for his age. “Mayhaps, when this war is won and my family is safe as ever it can be again, you may well be king, Stannis, to the South but never will a king on the Iron Throne or any below the Neck rule the North again. If you try anything we shall just keep on coming.”

  
Stannis isn't pleased with that last part. “What do you imagine I might try, boy?”

  
This is no boy, Mina thinks, but then Stannis knows that, he is merely annoyed. “I am not boy, Stannis. My men named me their king, King in the North. There hasn't been one in near three centuries but they've haven't forgotten. We never forget.”

  
As though sensing his master's wrath, the direwolf, Grey Wind growls. Mina tries not to flinch.

  
Stannis nods then. He respects this boy, this king. “After this war is won we shall see what comes of your title and crown but until then, I should be happy to ally with you.”

  
“So long as this crown stays rightfully with my family and you don't attempt to harm the North in any way, I too believe we can mend the wounds between our kingdoms.” Then the boy gets up and Mina respects him very much - he is a boy, he didn't ask for his crown or armies yet he protects and rules them as though made for it.

 

* * *

 

  
Later that night, Stannis comes to Mina's tent. It isn't so dark that her children need to be in their own tents sleeping and they spend so little time together that they've decided to come into hers. Marith and Desmera are both talking about Robb Stark, and his wolf - they are both in love with him, Mina thinks in amusement. Lynon is curled into Mina's side, trying to read a book Renly had given him for his last nameday about Northern and Essosi legends, and Shireen was quizzing Oryn on the history of the North. It wasn't just Martin and Desmera, they were all obsessed with King Robb and his land

  
Upon seeing Stannis, Lynon puts his book down not so carefully - causing Shireen to mutter about how annoying and messy boys are. “Father! Were you with King Robb?”

  
“I was,” Stannis tells them, to their excitement. “Is it not time for your beds?”

  
Oryn shakes his head at that, looking at his father as though Stannis were a madman. “Father! You must tell us of him - and his wolf!” The other children join in to voice their agreement.

  
Stannis, instead of being stern with them, tries a different approach. “On the morrow Robb Stark said he might show you his direwolf.”

  
“But only if you are all asleep within the hour,” Mina adds, Stannis nodding in agreement.

  
It takes a little more convincing but eventually the children leave for their tents and bed. Then it is just she and Stannis, alone for the first time since their argument.

  
“I wish to apologise for my behaviour earlier today,” he says, not looking her in the eye. Mina knew it was a big thing for him to say sorry.

  
“I accept your apology, Stannis. You must know I do not wish for the girls to be sold like mules, I myself know how it is to be wed to a person you don't yet know. I was lucky in that respect,” she tells him sincerely and smiles when she sees Stannis look proud.

  
Stannis sits down beside him. “I know, I truly do. I have been quite stressed as of late, that is all. We cannot argue like this, at least not in public, we need to be allies.”

  
Mina puts a hand on her husband's. “Stannis, I have always been your greatest ally, and shall always be, not because I am a Tyrell or wish for a crown but because I have seen the man beneath your cold, stern appearance; because you are the rightful king and you shall be a good one; because, most importantly of all, I believe in you.”

  
There is a silence then, a comfortable one though. “That,” Stannis begins, looking at her, “is all I need.”


	3. falcons and wolves

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know the timeline is wrong. I. Know. (I just want happiness for my children, is that really too much to ask??)

As the decision is made, Mina looks at her mother to find the woman smiling prouder than ever. Even prouder than when Mina was wed to Stannis or when Made fathered an heir for their house. (Nothing about Janna had ever truly made mother smile; Janna was pretty, yes, but plainer than most in their family and never cared for the things mother did.)

 

Janna comes over to her when the meeting is done. “Mother finally gets her perfect girl.”

 

“Indeed,” Mina agrees, looking to Margaery - sweet, pretty, celebrate Margaery. Gods, was she jealous of a girl of five-and-ten? “Though I believe she adores all of Mace's children.”

 

Her elder sister shakes her head. “Willas is too Hightower for her liking, I think. Just look at him, his colouring is Tyrell but he looks completely Hightower besides it, like Ser Baelor did when he was young. Willas grew up in Oldtown and feels more at home there than he does at Highgarden. Garlan is Tyrell enough, though he squires for his Uncle Garth. Loras and Margaery though, they are simply perfect.”

 

Mina had thought she was bitter about her mother having clear favourites but Janna, well, she cannot help but wonder how long Janna has held on to this rage.

 

Margaery is perfect though, isn't she? Mina thinks, looking over to the girl who will one day be queen - Queen in the North. The Stark boy hadn't wished for it, to wed Margaery, but all his councilors did and he agreed to it to keep both the peace and his crown. Mina's niece seemed happy enough, if a little surprised.

 

Instead of hating the poor girl like Janna seemed to she would help her. “Margaery, would you like to dine with me tonight, while these men plan their war? Perhaps Lady Alerie might come too?”

 

Alerie turns upon hearing her name and flashes her lovely smile. “I should love to, Queen Mina.”

 

“As would I,” Margaery answers with a graceful curtsey.

 

“Perfect,” Mina agrees, “my daughters can come too. It'll be a ladies night, yes?”

 

Alerie and Margaery smile at that, before leaving to wherever they were going now - Catelyn Stark was going too so they were likely discussing Margaery's betrothal to King Robb.

 

When they've gone Mina turns to her sister. Janna looks at her like she is the biggest traitor she has ever met, glaring at her. No, Mina thinks, once we were the truest of friends...

 

* * *

 

The dinner is awkward as she expected but the girls seem to be enjoying themselves. Margaery tells Desmera all about Highgarden and answers Shireen's shy questions about the gardens.

 

“Shireen, I hear you enjoy reading?” Alerie asks, smiling kindly.

 

Shireen nods, shy as ever. “Yes, my lady.”

 

“You should visit Oldtown one day then,” Alerie tells her. “No doubt you'll know that it's the home of many maesters, but even women study there, and common folk too. I grew up among the bookshelves and when I visit I still get lost. Perhaps, once this war is won and your father gets his throne, you might visit?”

 

Mina sees the look on Alerie's face, the one people have when they're thinking or dreaming of home. Shireen's face is wishful too, though no doubt for a different reason.

 

“I should like that very much, my lady,” Shireen says before going back to her food. Mina smiles.

 

There is little conversation for a while, the only sounds the clinking of utensils and plates. Then, curious as ever, Desmera asks, “Margaery, are you excited to go up North?”

 

“Very much,” Margaery answers, “though I should like to know my betrothed better first.”

 

“I wish he were mine,” Desmera mutters quietly, thankfully only Mina hears. Louder, she asks, “Who shall join you in Winterfell?”

 

Margaery, clever girl, catches on quickly enough. “Well, if their graces allow it I should like to know you better and perhaps you would like the North, cousin?”

 

Her daughter smiles brightly at that. “I would love that! Mother, might I go, please!”

 

Mina laughs. “Calm yourself, Desmera, Margaery hasn't yet wed King Robb much less moved North... however, your father and I might think upon it - but only if you behave.”

 

Desmera nods so hard at that Mina half fears her head will fall off. “I will be as good as Shireen, mother!”

 

Shireen herself smiles shyly at that mention. Margaery, who sits across from Shireen, reaches over to touch her hand. “I must get to know you too, Shireen! I've never had a sister and I simply must know my girl cousins best as I can.”

 

“I would like to know you too, Margaery,” Shireen says.

 

Though she has been taught - and molded - by Olenna, Mina can see some genuine kindness in Margaery. “Do you know Shireen, I have always wished for hair like yours.”

 

Shireen, who rarely gets compliments inner looks, seems to be unsure whether to be more surprised or grateful. “Why?” She says, apparently speechless.

 

Margaery sighs and rolls her eyes as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. “My hair is so curly - bushy, really - that I cannot imagine having straighter hair. And yours is so black too!”

 

The girls talk some more, Desmera too, and Mina smiles.

 

She turns to Janna, who has said very little this evening, to find her sister staring into space, looking as though she would rather she were anyone else in the world.

 

* * *

 

Mina is with some of her ladies when Oryn runs into her rooms, Lynon and Denys Redwyne - who was Oryn's only true close friend and son of one of Mina's new ladies, Denyse Hightower, now Redwyne - behind him. “Mother, come outside, we can see the Valemen riding here!”

 

She remembers Stannis telling her that the Vale, the Arryns, were in their side - if only because King Robb was - but she hadn't expected them to arrive so quickly. But then, she had never heard of a Vale lord being inefficient.

 

“I'm coming, boys,” she says, smiling their excitement.

 

Outside there seems to be a sea of blue and white - the colours of House Arryn, she remembers - and she goes to stand beside Stannis, who like her wears his crown of gold and bronze. The boys are standing behind them with the girls, though as heir to the throne Marith stands at Stannis' other side.

 

“I see the Valemen are very proud of their lord,” Mina cannot help but comments seeing how the falcon and moon that the Arryn's wear is seemingly everywhere.

 

“They are proud - full stop,” Stannis tells her as though he isn't at all proud. She just manages not to laugh.

 

Mina sees that just a little away from them stands King Robb, his most trusted councilors - including his mother and great-uncle, Ser Brynden - just behind him. And his direwolf, of course, is at his side.

 

As the Arryn guards get closer that Mina notices there is a carriage too. She remembers that the young Lord Arryn is sickly, and a boy besides. Robert Arryn was, what, six? Yet he is the ruler of all these proud men.

 

A herald - of course there is a herald - steps out from where he rode behind the carriage and announces, loud and clear, “I present Robert of House Arryn, the Lord of the Eyrie, Defender of the Vale and Warden of the East!”

 

Out of the carriage steps a small boy - not small because he was a boy, no, he was too small; too thin and sickly, Mina cannot help but think - with spindly legs and shaky arms. He is nervous, Mina realises and she doesn't blame him; here he stands in front of two king's and two armies worth of men - well, the North, Riverlands, Stormlands and Reach, so four, really - and more women and children who watch on curiously.

 

The boy wears a fancy doublet of blue and cream and a nervous look on his face.

 

It is his cousin who first greets him. “Lord Robert, I am so pleased to finally meet -”

 

As he speaks, more people come from the carriage, all looking as they could do with a wash. There is a tall boy who looks nearly full grown, a more plumper boy and a skinny boy.

 

The first two seem to be unsure what to do with the attention that is going their way - it's isn't every day three commoners step from a lord's carriage, especially not a lord whose family was known to be proud, as has been shown more than once already.

 

It is the third boy, the small skinny one, that catches Mina's eye. He bears an odd resemblance to young Robert Arryn but she doesn't know how or why. They aren't of a similar height or weight - both are skinny and small, but that isn't it (and it isn't as though a man so honourable as Lord Jon Arryn fathered any bastards, definitely not ones that would be riding with his trueborn son).

 

Then, surprising everyone, the King in the North laughs. “Gods,” he says, apparently not seeing everyone else's confusion. Theon Greyjoy whispers something that seems very much like 'are you alright?' but when Stark quietly says something back it is the heir to the Iron Islands' turn to laugh.

 

The third boy, skinny and small, mutters, “Finally,” just loud enough that Mina hears it is very high for a boy's voice, even a very young boy. The boy runs to King Robb, throwing this skinny arms around him.

 

Soon enough Lady Catelyn bursts into tears and then Mina is even more confused. Stannis asks what all have been thinking. “What is going on here?”

 

King Robb grins wildly, with - were those tears in his eyes? “It's Arya, we've found her!”

 

Mina hears Shireen whisper to Desmera about Arya being one of the lost Northern princesses. Then it clicks. Robb Stark went to war to avenge his father and began to lose hope on finding his sisters, and yet here one is, now hugging her mother.

 

Afterwards, the Starks go to King Robb's entire with the two other boys - who decidedly weren't Princess Sansa but instead just two boys - no doubt to talk things over. They will come to Stannis and Mina and their own councilors and then they might properly find out what just happened.

 

Then everything is as it was again. The herald says his little speech again and this time young Robert kneels, the action is clearly practiced but Mina cannot help but find the boy sweet. If she remembers well, there was talk of Stannis fostering young Robert years ago but that was well before Jon Arryn died and then Robert Baratheon and Ned Stark and all the rest.

 

“It is an honour to meet you both, King Stannis, Queen Mina,” Robert says, looking at the ground. “I...I, um, apologise for that... interruption, your graces.”

 

Then an older man comes from the group of guards around the boy lord. He pats Lord Robert on the shoulder affectionately, almost in a fatherly way.

 

The young lord speaks again. “This is Lord Yohn Royce, my regent.” Mina recalls hearing how Lady Lysa Arryn was her son's regent before she got ill, that's why she was in the Eyrie now.

 

“I too apologise what that incident, your graces. Perhaps we might talk of it later but for now might we set up our tents and my men and all those of the Vale can pick where they shall begin their practises?”

 

“Of course, Lord Royce,” Stannis replies. Mina can tell he is still both shocked and confused by that incident, as Yohn Royce put it.

 

* * *

 

It isn't so long before she and Stannis can meet with King Robb and his trusted men, and women. Mina sees the girl, Princess Arya, is all cleaned up but had cut her hair. She sits beside her kingly brother and mother, who looks as though she could cry just by looking out her! Happy tears though, ones of relief.

 

Mina doesn't want to ever have to even imagine losing one of her children and thinking they were dead. Mayhaps Lady Catelyn even hoped her youngest daughter was dead, for could it really get much better for a lonely young girl in this world?

 

It makes her think whether Shireen and Desmera would survive out there. She doesn't want to ever have to find out.

 

Princess Arya keeps looking back to her friends and they too have at least cleaned their faces. The fatter one seems more nervous and fidgets with the ends of his worn, dirty sleeves. When Mina sees the taller, older boy she is certain her heart stops a little.

 

She did not expect to see Robert Baratheon here - for who else could this possibly be save his ghost? She turns to Stannis only to find him too looking at the boy in disbelief. Beside her husband is Renly, whose resemblance to this boy is uncanny. Even Marith - who Stannis insisted on being here - who obviously didn't know what Robert looked like as a boy, looks between Renly and this boy, a curious expression on his face.

 

“Arya, perhaps you might tell King Stannis why you came from Lord Robert's carriage -” Lady Catelyn begins but Stannis, for one of the only times Mina has known him, isn't able to hide his shock.

 

But then, it certainly isn't everyday you see a random peasant boy who looks exactly like your dead older brother, is it? “Who is that boy?” He asks King Robb, then Arya.

 

“Gendry,” Arya and said boy say at the same time. Gendry is the one that continues. “As you've prolly guessed, I'm the - well, one of the - bastard sons of the dead king, Robert Baratheon.”

 

“You could be my twin,” Renly says in an awkward attempt to lighten the mood, and the atmosphere. “I know your half-brother, or one of your half-brothers, I suppose. Edric Storm is also one of my eldest brothers baseborn sons, though he was lucky enough to benaised in a castle and have both parents be of nobility.”

 

“I've heard of him,” Gendry says shortly, in an oddly bitter tone.

 

“Well,” Lady Catelyn says, in an attempt to change the conversation. “Arya can you tell King Stannis and Queen Mina what you told us.”

 

The girl nods, so brave. “After father...um, died, I went with Yoren, a man who father knew and who was trying to get recruits for the Wall. He was going to take me to Winterfell and then I'd be able to tell everyone father was being honest - even though I just knew you all would know he wouldn't ever lie, especially not to his friends.

 

“I met Gendry and Hot Pie there, in Yoren's group of men and boys - yes, mother, I had to pretend to be a boy, that's why my hair's cut. But then Lannister soldiers came looking for us - for me, really, - and they killed Yoren and even our other friend, Lommy. After that we three had to make it on our own and we heard that the Arryns and Valemen were coming here, to the camp,” Arya says, taking a moment to catch her breath and take a quick sip of her water.

 

“First we tried to come straight here but then we decided to just join with the Valemen. Cousin Robert didn't know me and I didn't know him because we'd never met, but Lord Yohn knew my father well, taught him how to fight when my father was fostered in the Eyrie and he knew who I was.”

 

Before Stannis can say, well, anything, Mina speaks first. “You are incredibly brave, Arya, you and your friends. Perhaps we might speak on the morrow but I can tell you need rest, or time to truly catch up with your family.”

 

“Yes, your grace,” Arya says, smiling. Then she turns to her elder brother again. King Robb thanks her before taking his sister outside with him.

 

Afterwards, Stannis leaves to his plan some more with Renly, Davos, Mace and some Northern lords, taking Marith - who had been very interested in Arya's story - with him.

 

Lady Catelyn had stayed and Mina couldn't fathom why: if it were her she wouldn't let Arya out her sight, or her arms.

 

“Thank you,” Catelyn says. “You could have made Arya tell her whole story, from what she knows of the Lannisters to where and when she joined her cousin but you let her rest. That was very kind.”

 

Mina shakes her head. “Men can plan out and fight wars easily enough but children are altogether a different and sometimes more difficult challenge. Being a mother during wartime is nothing less than terrifying, my lady, we must all be on each others' side, I think.”

 

“Indeed,” Catelyn says. Mina dismisses her and doesn't care that there are tears in her eyes as she walks outside to see Arya hugging her mother. This war shan't take my family, she vows there and then, and decides she shall go hug her children, read them stories, kiss them goodnight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some things;  
> \- Margaery and Robb are betorthed (yay, I kind of ship it?)  
> \- The Arryns are fancy and literally So Proud and Fancy about Everything  
> \- Robert Arryn is my child, if you hurt him I will fight you  
> \- Arya is also amazing  
> \- As is Gendry's hatred of the highborn
> 
> This one (like All Of Them) got so very away from me. This is 500 words over what I planned but I love my favourites/children (actually though, Arya and Robb and Robert are some of my favourite characters, so...)


	4. the strength of women

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is sort of a filler chapter, btw.

“Does Marith have to go with you?” Mina asks, wishing she sounded more like a queen but she couldn't manage it.

  
Stannis nods, even if he looks as miserable as she feels. “This is our first battle against the Lannisters. After we defeated Tywin today we can march on King's Landing. I need Marith here, fighting alongside my men.”

  
“He isn't a man though, he is a boy,” Mina tells him.

  
Her husband argues, “Robb Stark is the same age as Marith and he is leading armies, admittedly quite well. And Marith has been sheltered all his life, his future subjects must see him as not just some lord or prince or king but as a person who fights and hurts just as they do.”

  
“You want our son to hurt just so some old men can like him?” Mina asks with a raised brow.

  
Stannis turns to look at his armour that soon enough he shall put on. “In the last war I didn't have a chance to fight on the battlefield but in Storm's End my men saw me as not a lord or a new king's heir but as a man; a man who was scared like them, a man who thought he was going to die like them, a man who ended up eating rats like them, and most importantly, a man who survived and endured.”

  
The siege. Whenever it is mentioned Mina feels a pain in her heart. It has been over a decade and yet Stannis still bears the marks of the siege on his pale face, his thin frame. Sometimes Stannis would stare off into the unknown but he wouldn't day dream like most, no, he had a look in his eyes and Mina didn't know what it was but she knew he was thinking of the siege.

  
“But men have to see that their lords, their princes are strong. Strong princes do not look like boys of fourteen years who are terrified for their first battle,” Mina says, even though she knows Marith would wish to go, if only for the reasons Stannis has said; duty, honour.

  
“And yet that is what we have,” Stannis says as his squires come in, ready to put his armour on him. Mina dismisses herself and wonders if she shall see her son by the night's end.

 

* * *

 

Many of the lords and knights who were at the camp go off to fight and it is quite amazing to watch them all. Desmera shouts and cheers excitedly as they ride past and goes red as the red apple Fossoway when Robb Stark winks at her.

  
“Did you see that, Shireen?” She asks, blushing still.

  
“I did,” Shireen answers with a laugh.

  
Once all the men are gone it is Mina's duty to look after all else. The children shall play or practice for an hour or so while the women can converse or pray or anything they would like, then there would be a big gathering for lunch.

  
Mina is escorted by one of her knights - one of the very few from the Stormlands who didn't go to fight actually - to where chairs and tables are in a semi circle and children already play in the middle.

  
She goes to her place at the head chair and makes her speech on how they are all safe and that soon this war shall be won, even if all she can think of is Marith on the battlefield all alone even though Renly promised to care before him. She just sees Marith dying, dying, dying.

  
“Queen Mina,” she hears a voice and she turns to see Lady Catelyn with her daughter, who still wears clothes more suited for a boy but she also looks much healthier and happier so Mina supposes her clothing matters little.

  
“Lady Catelyn, Princess Arya, how lovely to see you both. Have a seat,” she says, gesturing to the chairs beside her that surround a small table. Mina goes from her head chair to the smaller one, sitting adores from the two Starks.

  
“Thank you,” Lady Catelyn says, polite as ever.

  
She taps her daughter on the shoulder quickly and Arya groans a little, “Sorry, I forgot! Queen Mina, thank you for your kindness in hosting my friends and I when we were in need of food, water and shelter.”

  
“Needn't let it worry you, Princess Arya,” she waves a hand, dismissing the notion she did anything. “Perhaps you would like to play with the children, no doubt you haven't played in a while?”

  
Arya grins. “No, I haven't! Mother...”

  
At Lady Catelyn's nod Arya is up out of her seat and being given a wooden sword before Mina can blink. The girl was good, very good actually, with a sword.

  
“Did your lord husband teach Princess Arya swordplay?” Mina asks Catelyn, only to find the other woman look surprised too.

  
“No, Ned allowed Arya to practice archery and I don't doubt her brothers let her use swords but Ned didn't teach her it...he wrote me, saying something about a Braavosi swordsman he had brought over to teach Arya,” Lady Catelyn tells her as Arya bests Edric Storm easily enough. Edric Storm who was taught by Renly and Loras Tyrell.

  
Mina smiles. “This swordsman must have been good,” she says.

  
Lady Catelyn nods, “Yes, he must have. I thought Arya was good at archery but this, she's brilliant.”

  
There is true pride in Lady Catelyn's voice and Mina cannot help but smile at it. “Lynon wishes to be a huntsman, when he isn't a pirate or wildling, so he has decided to take up archery.”

  
“How lovely,” Catelyn smiles, almost sadly, and Mina wonders if she is thinking of her youngest sons who are at Winterfell. Two sons half a continent away and another in battle...and then Princess Sansa is in King's Landing.

  
Mina cannot help but notice yet again how strong this woman who sits before her truly is.

 

* * *

 

The men are back after a few days, victorious. “Brynden Tully has captured Tywin Lannister,” Stannis tells her, “now we can march on the capital.”

  
“Good,” Mina says, truly happy. Her son is well, her husband, her brother.

  
“Mina, there is one thing,” he says then and Mina wonders what is wrong now. “Your sister, Lady Janna, her husband was injured...”

  
Gods, she thinks, no. She sees Janna then, speaking with young Loras, who had emerged unscathed from his first battle. “I have to tell her. But Stannis, how likely is it that, well...”

  
“He shall live? It is half and half, the maester said.” Then some cheerful, laughing men come over, including Renly, and Stannis is taken off somewhere else.

  
Mina takes a deep breath and goes over to Janna. “Janna -”

  
“Queen Mina,” Janna says stiffly, nodding politely. “What can I do for you?”

  
Deep breaths, she reminds herself. “I've just been told that See Jon was injured on the field. He is being treated by the maester and...”

  
“Will he survive?” Janna asks, her face betraying nothing.

  
“I don't know...I haven't yet seen him but -” Janna is gone though, no doubt in search of her husband.

  
She doesn't even want to think of what might happen if Jon doesn't make it. Janna would be devastated, obviously, for she truly loved Jon, more than anything. Don't let her lose this, Mina prays to the gods, any gods.

 

* * *

 

Later in the day, the men are celebrating their victory (we haven't yet won the throne, Mina cannot help but think), the women are laughing and dancing, and the children playing. All are happy. Even Stannis is smiling in own way, speaking with Renly.

  
Mina sits beside them with Alerie and Allyria Dayne - Dondarrion soon - watching the children. Margaery looks lovely as she dances with her betrothed and Robb Stark does look pleased to simply be near her.

  
Over by the food tables Mina sees Allyria's nephew Edric, who seems to be trying to ask Arya Stark to dance. On the benches Mina sees Shireen is speaking with young Lord Robert, both looking shy. Perhaps I should ask Stannis again about a match between the two. Lady Shireen Arryn of the Vale, it doesn't sound bad.

  
“Where is Lady Lysa, do either of you know?” Mina asks the two women before her.

  
Alerie shakes her head but Allyria nods, saying, “I heard she was ill, very ill... almost mad, even.”

  
“Poor woman,” Mina says, trying to defend the absent woman. “I cannot imagine miscarrying so many times and then losing my husband. Who wouldn't go mad?”

  
The Dornish lady snorts. “They say she posioned the Lord Hand.”

  
“What sort of a woman would kill her husband?” Alerie asks, seemingly unable to not be curious.

  
“Would you wish to wed an old man whose age was right to be your grandsire? Especially one as foolish and false as Jon Arryn,” Allyria spits his name like it's the most awful curse she's heard. Mina didn't think the girl was capable of such hatred, and definitely not to a dead man.

  
Should they not respect the dead? Mina asks, “Whatever did Jon Arryn do to you, Lady Allyria?”

  
She had kept her tone light but an odd darkness passes over Allyria's pretty face. “After your goodbrother's rebellion, where he rewarded the man who gave orders to murder an innocent woman and two children, there were whispers - loud ones - that Dorne would rebel against the Baratheon king. Jon Arryn rose down to Sunspear with Prince Lewyn's bones.” Allyria paused a moment, to look at them.

  
Mina cannot help but feel frightened and shew looks over to Alerie, who seems unsure of what to do.

  
“Prince Lewyn was Elia's uncle and cousin to my mother so I knew him, but only a little. He died when I was barely three, he died fighting the Baratheon army. Jon Arryn came with his bones and neither Elia's nor her children's were in sight. Peace, he said, was what Dorne and the other kingdoms needed. Peace, except then his king wed Tywin's daughter, making him father of a queen and the men who murdered the princess and her children are able to walk free.”

  
There is a silence at the table then. Mina, remembering she is a queen, tries to lighten the mood. “It's not as though being father of a queen helped Tywin much though, is it? For instance, right now he is being held in Riverrun. His children have been declared to have had an affair and his grandchildren all are bastards born from incest.”

  
Alerie nods. “Yes, and isn't it good that at least Prince Lewyn's bones were returned? I met the man once and he seemed as kind and noble as the Dragonknight.”

  
“Everyone says that of him,” Allyria nods, agreeing. Then, she says, “In Dorne everyone knows too that if he had a say in it Prince Lewyn would wish for his bones to rot in that awful city and would want for Princess Elia's bones to be taken back, with her babes.”

  
“We did not mean to offend you or the Martells,” Mina quickly tells Allyria, who takes a deep drink of her wine.

  
“I know,” she tells them and Mina cannot even begin to read her voice. She truly doesn't know if Allyria actually likes them or is planning to assassinate them.

  
Before the question can be answered though Lord Beric waves Allyria over to where he sits and Alerie and Mina are left sitting, rather confused.

  
Mina takes a big gulp of her wine. Women are such hard work, after all.


End file.
